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Akiyama Shinichi
}} Akiyama Shinichi is the Male Lead of the series seen in both the Liar Game (Manga) and Liar Game (Drama). He is played by Matsuda Shota in the latter. Appearance In the Manga, Akiyama's Hair varies wildly across the colored pages, between blond, orange, and even black. His eyes tend to stay a certain shade of yellow. These are both represented by white in the normal pages. He seems to wear eyeshadow quite frequently, giving him an almost owl-like appearance. He is also prone to wearing long-sleeved shirts and turtlenecks with tight-fitting pants. In the Drama, his hair is styled somewhat similarly, and is more brown than black. He also tends to wear jeans and a collared shirt, and usually has an earring in his left ear. Personality One of Akiyama Shinichi's most intriguing charms is that his character still has a lot to reveal and can be interpreted in several ways. Akiyama graduated from Teito University, one very distinguished school as noted in Roots of A, majoring in Psychology. This knowledge and abilities he acquired after learning about the human mind allowed him to swindle a major MLM company; something he did out of revenge, for that company led to his mother's suicide. As a result, he spent 5 years in prison. Hence why he is known to be an ex-con; this is even his nickname in the 4th game. The general public, as shown in the newspapers, have the misconcept that he was a professional scam artist and is considered a genius for having driven a major company into bankrupcy despite being so young. When he first appears, Akiyama seems to be a very stoic and self-confident man, tricking reporters into leaving the scene so he can leave the prison without a hassle. When challenged with the Liar Game Tournament, he shows proficiency in tricking his opponents through his intellectual skills; his biggest forte is being able to handle and predict people's minds, which lets him get cooperation from other players as he presents them a logical and brilliant plan and to get the best out of their opponents by predicting their train of thoughts and actions. He is self-described as Kanzaki Nao's right hand man and seems to be quite protective of her (most likely due to her resemblance, in her ridiculously honest ways, to his deceased mother). It is plausible that his reason to act that way towards her is atonement. Though their relationship started as employee-client, as the game (manga) went on the two have become closer and more protective of each other. As for now, their relationship can be defined as that of accomplices. Initially, he'd tell Nao how to move, and she would follow his instructions. That is how she survived the first two rounds as well as the first revival game. However, beginning on Round 3, Nao began actively seeking to be of help. During the second revival game, she did something different than following his instructions, making a secret plan with Fukunaga to win her game because Nao wished to stop rellying as much on Akiyama, though he did not take it too well at first. Overall, he frequently has told her not to worry about the game for he will think of something to get them both to pass, sometimes in text messages. This shows he has come to understand Nao to the point in which he knows when she feels insecure. Akiyama has also opened up significantly to Nao, as she seems to be the only one he shares his personal thoughts and feelings with. At this point it is unclear whether he has any romantic feelings for her. Akiyama's feelings towards Fukunaga Yuji are mostly those of dislike, though the manga seems to hint that Yuji has a romantic interest in Akiyama, as Nao pointed out to him. Needless to say Akiyama was surprised at such an assumption. It is not clear whether he believed her or not, though the manga showed he felt awkward while interacting with Fukunaga right after Nao told him that event. Unlike Nao, his objective is not to save everyone from debt, but the LGT office. As he explained to Nao, he wanted to know more about those who took pleasure in the Liar Game, making others lie for money. He, however, supports Nao in her objective as long as it does not interfere with his plans, going as far as taking a debt of 400 million yen along with her in Round 3 in order to let others drop out of the game. He is also not as unwilling to lie or deceive others. His cynical skills have even saved him and Nao from players trying to deceive them (mostly targeting Nao for her naivete). At the end of Round 3, Yokoya pointed out that he was no different than him or the LGT. Something to which Akiyama could not respond, but Nao did for him and retaliated that Yokoya was the one who really lost the game because he did not win with the method he claimed he did, domination. After that event, that resulted in Yokoya's heavy grudge against both Akiyama and Nao, Akiyama thanked her for defending him. His behavior then beckons that he indeed acknowledged Yokoya to be correct, but Nao told him otherwise. He told him he was different. Thoroughout the series, his character has had development, and the subtle influence of Nao is showing in his person, though it might not be as obvious like the influence he has had on her, such as her being able to doubt others. When Harimoto offered an alliance with his group during Round 4, Akiyama rejected him even though it would have brought him a great advantage. He told him that he could not accept because he did not know how to trust. (It is still not known if that was all or if it was part of some of his unpredictable schemes.) Even Yokoya noted this as he tried to make Nao the only one who would fail to pass the fourth round qualifier, expressing it would be more painful for Akiyama to see her failing than it would be to fail himself. History Manga Roots of A Akiyama majored in Humanities during his years in Teito University, and during his fourth year was a student of Okabe Yukiya. Once Yukiya handed his class their assignment, Akiyama was the only one who had the idea to go to him and ask him about whether or not there was a right answer. When Yukiya responded positively, Akiyama went to talk to his teacher's wife to ask about the person in the assignment. In so doing, he was able to write a correct analysis of the paper, and allow all the students to pass. In the Drama, however, the story changes and shows Akiyama as being the one that gave the incorrect analysis and in turn being Katsuragi Ryou the one that gave the correct analysis. Okabe tells Akiyama that he had lost making him furious with Katsuragi for it. This becomes a plot point in the drama by explaining the connection between both characters. Liar Game, Round 1 In the five years since Roots of A, Akiyama was biding his time in the prison where he was sentenced. Immediately after his release, he started his tricks again, convincing several reporters that he was a security guard and the real Akiyama had walked right past them. The policeman with him found amusement in this, and told him where to go to avoid confrontations. Soon after, he bumped into Kanzaki Nao, who had been looking for him so that he could help her in the Liar Game. At first, he failed to believe her, saying that she should get a lawyer. However, this was not possible, so he attempted to ditch her, saying that he needed to pick something up. He was shocked to find her still waiting after 28 hours, and rescued her from some street thugs to take her to his apartment to recover. Once he read the rules for the Liar Game and hearing her prediciment, he decided to help her out after meeting her opponent, Fujisawa Kazuo, in exchange for half of Nao's winnings; supposedly 50 million yen. By staking out his house for the remainder of the month and placing him in a state of psychological panic, Akiyama disguised himself as an LGT Officer and tricked Fujisawa out of his money by having him hand it over to him. He then gave the money to Nao and went into detail about his methods, involving switching the cards for the end date of Round 1 with a fake one, and having Nao earnestly believe that she was to lose. When Nao gave her share of the money back to her teacher, Akiyama decided it was only fair that he do the same, since Nao would not get anything from the deal. She tried to give him the money she had saved from jobs, much to his chagrin, but was stopped by what Akiyama, too, was shocked to see; the invitation to Round 2 of the game. Category:Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Manga Category:Drama Category:Round 2 Category:Round 1 Category:Revival Round II Category:Round 3 Category:Round 4 Category:Roots of A Category:Semi-Finals Category:Liar Game: The Final Stage